"The land area occupied by the [Old Order] Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1940 was 150 square miles, compared to approx. 525 square miles in 1980... The number of church districts [congregations] has increased dramatically... There were six districts in 1900, twenty-five in 1950, and sixty in 1979. "

"The land area occupied by the [Old Order] Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1940 was 150 square miles, compared to approx. 525 square miles in 1980... The number of church districts [congregations] has increased dramatically... There were six districts in 1900, twenty-five in 1950, and sixty in 1979. "

"The land area occupied by the [Old Order] Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1940 was 150 square miles, compared to approx. 525 square miles in 1980... The number of church districts [congregations] has increased dramatically... There were six districts in 1900, twenty-five in 1950, and sixty in 1979. "

Table 1-1: "Plain Churches in Lancaster County "; "Inncludes groups that presently wear plain clothing, as well as those groups that wore it earlier in the 20 century. "; Members: "Membership rounded to nearest hundred. Includes only baptized members, not children. " Table lists Old Order Amish (83 congregations w/ 6,300 members) "

"...Its [Lancaster County] present population of 400,000 will likely top 450,000 by the turn of the twenty-first century... Despite its robust agricultural output, not all Lancastrians are Amish or farmers. today less than 5 percent of jobs in the county directly involve agriculture. Nearly 800 industrial establishments dot the Garden Spot... Each year Lancaster Countians host some 5 million tourists, who spend over $400 million. Tourish, which has over six hundred facilities, creates more than 8,600 jobs for local people, including some Amish. The Industrialized Garden Spot is the habitat of Lancaster's Old Order Amish community of fourteen thousand children and adults, the oldest and largest Amish group in North America with common beliefs and practices. Nearly 86 percent of the Amish in Lancaster County are affiliated with the Old Order Amish, sometimes called House Amish because worship services are held in their homes. "

"Although the Amish live in the midst of a spreading urban region, rife with temptations of all sorts, their attrition rate is surprisingly low. The majority of Amish children join the church as adults. Church members recently reported that 88 percent of their children over 25 years of age had joined the church. This 12 percent attrition rate is likely a low estimae, because young adults between 25 and 35... may still leave the Amish fold. An earlier study in Lancaster found attrition ranging from 18 to 24% over several decades. Amish leaders estimate the fallout rate at 10 percent and think it has decdlined over the past thirty years. In any event, four out of five Amish children will likely remain Amish. The combination of high birth rate and a low dropout rate has produced vigorous growth. Lancaster's settlement expanded from merely six church districts in 1878 to nearly ninety today. "

Table: "Old Order Amish Population Estimates , 1880-1990, Lancaster County Settlement "; Shown: total adults and children

Old Order Amish Church

Tennessee

-

-

4units

-

1974

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

Table 2: "Location and characteristics of the Old Order Amish by state and province "; Columns: Location; Estimated population; Number of districts [i.e., congregation]; Number of settlements. "Estimates are based on mean district size within each settlement. "

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

Old Order Amish Church

Texas

-

-

-

-

1974

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

Table: "Religious Groups, Members/Adherents, In Texas, 1990 "; pg. 7: Texas pop. (1990 U.S. census): 16,986,335; "Data based on reports from 133 church bodies. "; This figure is from ADHERENT column ( "Adherents " defined as all members, incl. regular participants not considered as communicant.), not the more restrictive "member " column.

Old Order Amish Church

Texas

-

-

3units

-

1991

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

"The Old Order Amish, numbering over 4,500 members nationally, oppose all ritualism... Largest settlements are found in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario. "

Old Order Amish Church

USA

-

-

427units

-

1974

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

Old Order Amish Church

USA

-

-

-

-

1985

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 348.

"Mennonites... One of their best-known sects is the Amish, who separated from the mainstream in Switzerland around 1690 under Jacob Ammon, who insisted on a stricter observance of rules. The strictest branch of the Amish, the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church, insists on plainness of dress, furnishings, and meals, as depicted in the 1985 film Witness. "

"It is very likely that our Mennonite total [derived from NSRI phone survey] does not include the estimated 90,000 Old Order Amish who do not possess telephones. "

Old Order Amish Church

USA

-

-

881units

-

1991

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

*LINK* web site for Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches (accessed 1998); [Orig. source: Source: Kenneth B. Bedell, editor, Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, annual.]

Table: 1997 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches: U.S. Religious Bodies with more than 60,000 Members "; "...prepared for the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census... for the 1997 edition of the Statistical Abstract of the U.S. "

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

Table 2: "Location and characteristics of the Old Order Amish by state and province "; Columns: Location; Estimated population; Number of districts [i.e., congregation]; Number of settlements. "Estimates are based on mean district size within each settlement. "

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

Old Order Amish Church

Wisconsin

-

-

11units

-

1974

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

Table 2: "Location and characteristics of the Old Order Amish by state and province "; Columns: Location; Estimated population; Number of districts [i.e., congregation]; Number of settlements. "Estimates are based on mean district size within each settlement. "

Nolt, Steven M. A History of the Amish, Good Books: Intercourse, PA (1992); pg. 280.

Table: "The Old Order Amish, Number of Church Districts, 1974 and 1991 "; NOTE: In older, established Amish communities, each church district 125-174 people (adults & children). Newer, smaller settlements often fewer than 100 people.

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